The Baseball Mystery
by Allie351
Summary: The summary for this story sucks, sorry. This is my first fic, so be gentle. Please review, but no flames!


Author's ramblings: If you can't tell, this story is currently a work in progress. This is my second Hardy Boys story, but first one being published on FF.Net. I have no clue where to go with this story and would like some suggestions. If you have any suggestions on where I should go with this story, email me at Courtberens10@hotmail.com, or just stick them in your review, and I'll consider them. Thanks.  
The baseball mystery  
Disclaimer: Well, you should know by now, none of the characters belong to me. Frank and Joe belong to Dixon, and Nancy Drew(if she appears, though I doubt she will) belongs to Keene. So don't sue, you won't make any money off of me. All other characters that you do not recognize belong to me, so do not use them without my permission. Denny Stevenson, Derek and Abby Benson, and Coach Smythe and Erik Jones belong to me.  
"And in the bottom of the 7th, it's the Bayport Tigers 5, the Oceana  
  
Blue Bears 10." came the announcer's voice over the loud speaker. "Isn't this  
  
great? Just imagine, I could be playing here some day." Denny Stevenson  
  
said to his friends Frank and Joe Hardy as he surveyed the game going on  
  
below them. Denny had just gotten drafted by the Bayport Tigers, and  
  
though he was still in High school, the coach had invited him to come out  
  
and meet his team mates and tour the facilities after the game. "It's a great  
  
team to play for Denny, and I'm sure you'll make it. With your skills, your a  
  
shoe-in during next season's draft." Frank told his friend. Denny smiled at  
  
him. "Thanks Frank, I'm glad to hear that. You just boosted my confidence  
  
by about a million percent." he said. "And that's the end of the game folks.  
  
The Bayport Tigers 7, the Oceana Blue Bears 13. Thanks for coming out and  
  
drive safely on the way home." the announcer blared again. Denny jumped up  
  
and stretched his 6-foot plus body and looked at the two brothers. "Well, I  
  
guess we should go see the coach." he said. The two brothers nodded and  
  
followed their friend. "Coach Smythe? My name is Denny Stevenson, your new draft pick."  
  
he said. Coach Smythe, a short, stocky man around the mid 30's, turned and  
  
smiled at the young star. "Denny Stevenson, eh? Well young fellow, I've  
  
heard a lot about you." he said. "I bet you would like a tour of our facilities,  
  
wouldn't you?" he asked the three of them. Denny nodded before Frank and  
  
Joe could say anything. "Yes sir, that would be great." Denny said. As they  
  
walked around, Frank and Joe noticed two guys arguing. "What do you think  
  
their arguing about?" Joe whispered to his brother. Frank shrugged. "I'm not  
  
sure. But keep an eye on them." he whispered back, as they followed the  
  
coach, who was talking to Denny. "I'll show you! I'm not going to let some  
  
hot shot rookie one-up me like you did! You took me job away, rookies  
  
don't deserve to be starters!" one of the guys who was arguing screamed.  
  
The rookie just shrugged and walked away. "What was that about?" Denny  
  
asked. Coach Smythe just shrugged. "Rookies and veterans. They are always  
  
getting into a fight about one thing or another. If it isn't the way they play, it's  
  
something else. And Benson likes to run his mouth. Rookies are hot-headed,  
  
let that be a warning to you Stevenson. If you're a hot head, you lose many  
  
battles." he said, as they continued on. Frank pretended to look at his watch.  
  
"Uh Coach? Denny? We hate to break this up, but Joe and I have to get  
  
home." he said. Joe caught on and followed his lead. "Yeah. We uh, have  
  
tons of homework to do tonight." he said.  
  
"Homework? Since when did you do homework on a Sunday?" Frank  
  
asked his brother. Joe shrugged. "It was the only thing I could come up with  
  
at the time. Besides, I thought it was a good excuse to get out of there and  
  
check out that little 'fight' as Coach Smythe put it, between Benson and that  
  
other guy." he said. Frank nodded. "You took the words right out of my  
  
mouth." he said, as they walked up to Benson and a young woman talking to  
  
him. She smiled at them. "Frank and Joe Hardy, right?" she asked. Frank  
  
nodded. "How do you know who we are?" he asked. The girl laughed.  
  
"Your dad has helped our dad before. He helped him fool this espionage ring  
  
which gave my dad his money back that had gotten stolen. You look just like  
  
your dad, that's how I could tell." she explained. She stuck out her hand.  
  
"Abby Benson. And this is my twin brother Derek." she said. "The one who  
  
was running his mouth." Joe said. Derek nodded. "Unfortunately, Erik  
  
doesn't know how much better I am then him, and that's why I got his job.  
  
He thinks I'm just some hot shot rookie who came in half way through the  
  
season, which I'm not." he said. "Has Erik been like this since you came?"  
  
Frank asked. Derek nodded. "Pretty much, yeah. No matter how nice I am to  
  
him, he's always trying to get me into some sort of trouble. He even black  
  
mailed me a couple weeks after I came and almost got me thrown off the  
  
team." he explained. "I wonder what the guy's problem is. I'll admit, he's a  
  
good player, but he's not the best." Joe said. Derek shrugged. "I can't tell ya  
  
what his problem is. But all I know is that he better watch his back or else  
  
something could happen to him." he said, as he turned and walked away. The  
  
brothers looked at each other, then at Abby. "Was that a threat?" Frank  
  
asked her. She shook her head. "No. Ever since we were kids, Derek has  
  
been so competitive at baseball. That's just how he talks around the others.  
  
He means nothing by it, so don't worry about it." she said, as they watched  
  
Joe saunter away to go talk to Derek some more. "What's up with your  
  
brother?" she asked him. Frank shrugged. "Joe likes to go off on his own  
  
little cases, and forgets the importance of team work. Don't mind him, he'll  
  
question you're brother til his heart's content, then he'll leave him alone." he  
  
said. Abby chuckled. "He can question Derek all he wants, but he'll get  
  
nothing out of him. Besides, that's not what I meant by the question." she  
  
said. He looked at her. "Oh? What did you mean?" he asked. She chuckled.  
  
"Does he have a girlfriend?" she asked. He sighed. "He did." Abby smiled.  
  
"Really?" she asked. Then she added, "Because I think he's awful cute, and I  
  
wouldn't mind getting to know him better." Frank sighed and looked at her.  
  
"I don't really think he's ready for a girlfriend yet. His girlfriend just recently  
  
died, and he's still pretty shook up over it." he explained. Abby's smile  
  
turned to a frown. "Aww, I'm sorry. I didn't know. That musta been awful  
  
for him." she said. He nodded. "It was, trust me." he said, as Joe came back  
  
over to them. "Find out anything interesting?" Frank asked him. Joe shook  
  
his head. "No, nothing. Derek wouldn't tell me anything, and neither would  
  
anyone else." he said. "I didn't think he would. Derek's very close-mouthed  
  
when it comes to his baseball career." Abby told him. "We should get going,  
  
Joe. Dad's expecting to tell us about some case he needs help on." Frank  
  
said. Joe nodded, picking up right away on his brother's train of thought. "It  
  
was nice meeting you Abby." they both said, as they headed towards the van.  
  
The next morning, the boys ran into Chet Morton before even getting  
  
inside the doors of the high school. "Did you guys hear?" he asked. "Hear  
  
what?" Joe asked him. Chet stopped for a moment to catch his breath. "Hear  
  
about Derek Benson." he said. "What about Derek Benson?" Frank asked,  
  
urging him to go on. "He was killed sometime last night." Chet said. "Killed?  
  
What time? We were with him and his sister most of the afternoon yesterday  
  
after the game." Joe explained. Chet shrugged. "I don't know. I heard it on  
  
the news." he said, as the police came up behind them. "Who's their number  
  
1 suspect?" Frank asked. Chet pointed beside him. "They didn't see anyone  
  
except for Joe. He was the only one they saw with him. He came back and  
  
Derek didn't." said the voice behind them. The brothers turned around to see  
  
Chief Ezra Collig standing behind them, a grim smile on his face. "Chief  
  
Collig, you can't possibly think Joe killed Derek Benson." Frank said. Chief  
  
Collig shrugged. "I don't know what to think, except that every time a case  
  
comes up, you two are always in the middle of it. I'm just gonna ask him  
  
some questions, then let it all go. But I don't want you two to get yourselves  
  
involved with this case, or one or both of you will be arrested. Capiche?" he  
  
asked. The brothers nodded. Chief Collig led them over to ask them so  
  
questions, then let them get back to their day. "That was really weird. I mean,  
  
we all saw Derek leave Abby yesterday, then he turns up dead? Who would  
  
do something like this?" Joe asked, once they got inside the high school. "I  
  
can think of one person. Erik Jones." Frank said, as the two stopped at their  
  
lockers.  
  
Later that afternoon, the brothers went back to the baseball field to see  
  
if they could pick up on any clues to lead them to Derek's death. They ran  
  
into Abby at the field, talking to the coach about her brother's equipment.  
  
"Coach, I think he would want to keep them. I mean, he's had the same  
  
things since we were kids, and I don't think he'd want to part with it." she  
  
explained. Coach Smythe nodded. "I can understand that. But could we at  
  
least retire his number? Even though he hasn't been with us very long, he was  
  
the best player I've seen come around here in a long time. I would hate to see  
  
anyone else wear his uniform." he said. Abby nodded. "I think he would like  
  
that. Plus didn't you tell me you were planning some sort of on-field  
  
ceremony for him?" she asked. Coach Smythe nodded. "Yes, I am. I would  
  
like you to come down and say a few things about your brother, if you  
  
would like." he explained. She nodded. "Very much sir, and I thank you and  
  
I know Derek does to, wherever he is. And I will find whoever did this to  
  
him, I promise. He will not get away with it." she said, as she turned to see  
  
the Hardy brothers standing beside her. She smiled at them. "Hello Frank,  
  
hello Joe." she said. "Hello Abby." they said in unison. 


End file.
